Abstract
To early modern observers many parts of the antique material heritage they came
across turned out hard to understand and interpret. For knowledgeable erudites this
was a welcome opportunity to indulge in learned debates. In some cases, though, the
very ambiguities proper to some pieces of equivocal antique material heritage would
be taken as blessings in disguise. They allowed for welcome speculations, like in the
case of Virgil’s alleged grave near Naples that with success could be turned into a landmark of humanist culture. Within and beyond learned circles such ambiguities also gave way to a more jolly approach of such heritage, leading even to subversive practices of sometimes outright contesting nature, as happened with the statue of Pasquino and the sarcophagus of Constantina. Yet as the handling of the Borghese Hermaphrodite indicates, the equivocal and ambiguous nature of such antique heritage was also able to stimulate a sophisticated and deceitful playfulness that performatively questioned the very essence of what fixed meanings are.
across turned out hard to understand and interpret. For knowledgeable erudites this
was a welcome opportunity to indulge in learned debates. In some cases, though, the
very ambiguities proper to some pieces of equivocal antique material heritage would
be taken as blessings in disguise. They allowed for welcome speculations, like in the
case of Virgil’s alleged grave near Naples that with success could be turned into a landmark of humanist culture. Within and beyond learned circles such ambiguities also gave way to a more jolly approach of such heritage, leading even to subversive practices of sometimes outright contesting nature, as happened with the statue of Pasquino and the sarcophagus of Constantina. Yet as the handling of the Borghese Hermaphrodite indicates, the equivocal and ambiguous nature of such antique heritage was also able to stimulate a sophisticated and deceitful playfulness that performatively questioned the very essence of what fixed meanings are.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Reading Images from the Past |
| Subtitle of host publication | In Honour of Karl A.E. Enenkel |
| Editors | Walter S. Melion, Christoph Pieper, Paul J. Smith, Anita Traninger |
| Place of Publication | Leiden and Boston |
| Publisher | Brill |
| Chapter | 9 |
| Pages | 234-252 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-90-04-71296-6 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-90-04-71295-9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 13 Jan 2025 |
Publication series
| Name | Intersections. Interdisciplinary Studies in Early Modern Culture |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Brill |
| Volume | 100 |
| ISSN (Print) | 1568-1181 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© Koninklijke Brill BV, Leiden, 2025.
Keywords
- Antiquity
- Bentveughels
- Heritage
- Hermaphrodite
- Pasquino
- Renaissance
- Virgil